The Holiday Concert[DVD]

If you aren't familiar with PPM (outside of "Puff, The Magic Dragon") this is a concert they did back in 1988, and it is still outstanding today. They sing many Christmas songs, as well as many of their favorites, such as "Puff", "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Weave Me the Sunshine." But a PPM concert wouldn't be a PPM concert without audience participation--and they get it. PPM audiences (I saw them more than ten times before Mary Travers recently died) always have the widest range of ages of any musicians I've ever seen...and everyone sings along, from kids barely able to walk, to elders who have been listening to this music for 50 or more years. PPM are so natural, so playful, so used to each other that they are a joy to watch. I particularly recommend watching them do "Puff" (for reasons which will become immediately clear); "Marvelous Toy", where Noel Paul Stookie gives the kids in the audience permission to make rude noises, and Mary has the audience do a vocal version of "the wave" that you'd see in a sports stadium; and "Light One Candle", which will grab you as few other songs will. If you have children, grandchildren, or you'd like to be a child again yourself, even for a little while, buy this DVD--you can't possibly go wrong. And ten or twenty years from now, when this has become a holiday tradition for your family, you'll think back and say, "Glad I listened to that guy so long ago..."

This is a special that I watched on PBS and I love how they incorporated songs for both Christmas and Hanukkah.

Great group doing a really good show

I love their music

My mother started a holiday tradition of watching the Peter Paul and Mary Holiday Concert at least once as a family. Back then, it was just a VHS tape recorded off of PBS. Now I have it on DVD and it's even better! Complete concert, with great music included. Keep in mind: this was done in the 1980's and DVD technology can only do so much to upconvert something that old. It's not incredibly grainy, but its not crystal clear either. Sound is still great (which is great for a concert). DVD comes in a plastic case with a single page insert/front photo.

Like most, I originally saw this back on PBS in the 1980's. While some reviewers have complained about the quality of the DVD, I can't hear or see any of that myself. I really love Christmas music and, as I have mentioned frequently in the past, I like listening to people who can actually sing. There were very few, if any, who could match their three part harmony. They did several concerts for PBS, and frankly there were some of them which weren't that enjoyable, but both this one and their 25th Anniversary Concert are two of the best concerts that have ever been shown on TV. I also feel that it was important to have this personally since Mary Traver's passing because there will be no more Peter, Paul, & Mary now. I highly recommend this DVD.

Finally, the Peter, Paul, & Mary Holiday concert, that was originally only available on VHS through PBS is available for anyone to purchase on DVD. So, REJOICE! Just to be clear, this is the complete video that was shown on PBS stations back in the 80's. If you are a Peter, Paul, & Mary fan you won't be disappointed. There was a previous poster who complained that they were bored. The only thing I can say is either they weren't familiar with Peter, Paul, & Mary before purchasing the video, or they are simply an Internet troll (someone who posts something controversial just to stir up arguments) Now to my rating and my title. I've given the video 4 stars simply because there are some problems with the video. On a wide-screen Plasma TV that is normally pushing out 1080p video there is noticeable blurring when panning, and some noticeable blurring from some of the angles that the cameras were positioned at. The animation at the beginning of the video showing Peter, Paul, & Mary arriving at the concert in a sleigh is especially bad; but this is just a short sequence separate from the actual concert. However, and this is just my opinion, I believe those problems are uncorrectable and due to the quality of the original video that was used for the transfer. That said, 95% of the video is of good quality, with a little bit of graininess, again I believe because of the quality of the original video. I don't have theater speakers or any special audio equipment hooked to my TV, but as far as I'm concerned the audio from my TV's internal speakers was just fine and you won't be disappointed. You might wonder why I didn't give the video a lower rating because of the blurring. The rest of the video, and the concert itself, make up for the fact that the video transfer wasn't perfect. Remember, I was watching this on a large TV that may have aggravated the video problems. I never did have the concert on good VHS before and I'm happy that it finally became available on DVD. As far as I'm concerned this was a worthwhile purchase and even though the video isn't perfect, as I stated above, 95% of the video is good and I'm satisfied.

I loved this group because I grew up when they were popular. This is a fantastic video and the perfect holiday songs to remember every year.